


Jackaroo Jousting

by Nerd4Sale



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fluff, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28736316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd4Sale/pseuds/Nerd4Sale
Summary: Fire Lord Zuko has been overworking himself, and Aang has something to say about it.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Jackaroo Jousting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheNobodyofaSOLDIER](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNobodyofaSOLDIER/gifts).



> Commission for NobodyofaSOLDIER

Zuko dropped his face to his desk, heaving a groan of frustration. Being Fire Lord sounded like a mighty and important job. And it was! There were many aspects of the job that were exactly what he had expected: examining and revising laws to be friendly to all the tribes, settling arguments between citizens, and negotiating peace. However, he had never expected the sheer amount of paperwork. Every law that was revised, nullified, or written had to have his signature put to it. Every agreement penned between the different tribes had to be closely examined and have his signature put to it. Zuko never thought he would be eighteen years old and stuck behind a desk most of the day. 

“Fire Lord Zuko?” a tentative voice came from the door. Zuko straightened up quickly, trying to ignore that he had been caught grumbling like a school child.  
“Yes?” he responded to the servant peeking into his office.  
“There’s an emissary here to see you. He said it’s very urgent.”  
Making a quick check to see that his robes were unwrinkled and clean Zuko replied, “Yes, send him in!” 

As the servant left to fetch the emissary, the young Fire Lord tried to get his head into a political mindset. This was hard when all he really wanted was to be outside doing literally anything else. Heaving a sigh, he moved from his work desk to the dais where he sat to receive callers. Barely had he sat down before the door burst open and a familiar bald boy came bounding through. 

“Zuko! It’s been too long!” Aang’s cheerful voice carried easily through the large room.  
A smile broke across the fire bender’s face at seeing his friend. It truly had been too long since their last meeting.  
“Aang! I wasn’t expecting you! Is there trouble somewhere? The servant said it was urgent.”  
“Yes! Very urgent! I got news that you’ve barely left your office in weeks. It’s time to go outside!”  
Zuko glanced uncomfortably at his desk – the pile of treaties he had to look over and revise, the orders to be signed, and everything else that came with being Fire Lord. “I really need to finish some things up though,” he sighed.  
“Paper will still be there when you get back. Fresh air is good for your brain. You can’t just be all work and no play. You’ll turn into a bitter old man before you’re even thirty!”  
“Well… I guess I can take a little time off. Not more than an hour or so, though.”  
Aang smirked mischievously. “I’ll take it!” he chuckled, grabbing Zuko’s arm to pull the older boy out of the office before he could change his mind.  
Zuko struggled half-heartedly for show, but in all honest he wasn’t sad to be leaving the mountains of paperwork behind. It didn’t take them long to reach the courtyard, and Zuko smiled when he saw Appa waiting there. The two young men made short work of clambering onto the flying bison and with a “Yip yip!” they were off. 

It took only a few minutes of flight time for Zuko to begin to relax, his mind finally turning away from Fire Lord business. Curiously, he peered at the landscape below before asking:  
“Where are we headed, anyway?”  
“Jackaroo jousting!” Aang laughed enthusiastically. “Have you ever been?”  
Zuko just laughed along, flopping to lie on his back in the saddle. As they flew, he watched the clouds pass and listened to Aang babble about the duties he had been fulfilling as Avatar over the last several months. Gradually, the tension bled out of his shoulders, allowing him to relax further. Had he happened to look over at his friend, he would have seen a small triumphant smile tugging at Aang’s lips as the Avatar took in his friend’s relaxed state. 

Finally, Appa began to descend. Interested to see where they were, Zuko rolled to his knees so he could lean over the edge of the saddle. The trio dove through the thick cloud bank below them and broke through to a stunning landscape. Rolling hills surrounded a quiet valley that was saturated in rich greens of both the trees and the grass. Brightly colored flowers dotted the landscape, and a small brook trickled the length of the valley.  
“Wow,” Zuko whispered “I’ve not seen anything this beautiful since Ba Sing Se.”  
“I found this place by accident one day,” Aang explained. “I just needed a break from being the Avatar. Everyone always wants something, and sometimes it’s too much. So I took off and just let Appa do his thing. He brought me here.” By this point they had touched down next to the brook and jumped down into the luscious grass. “But the best part was when I realized that a huge herd of jackaroos lives here. Do you know how hard it is to find jackaroos anymore?”  
“What exactly is a jackaroo?”  
“Look over there!”  
Zuko looked the direction Aang was pointing and was amazed to see massive kangaroo-like animals with long rabbit ears. They didn’t seem at all disturbed by the arrival of strangers to their valley, and just continued grazing and playfully boxing with each other. 

“Jackaroo jousting is super fun! We each ride a jackaroo and while they box we try to wrestle each other off their shoulders. They love games, and they pick up on what we’re doing pretty fast.”  
Cautiously, Zuko followed his friend’s lead. They each walked up to a standing jackaroo, bowed politely at the beasts, and then vaulted onto their respective shoulders.  
“Hold on with your legs, and whatever you do, don’t grab their ears,” Aang instructed. 

The firebender watched as his friend bent his legs to lock them behind the jackaroo’s body, and then used gentle pressure from his feet to direct the animal. Carefully, Zuko did the same and was surprised by how easily the odd animal followed the pressure cues.  
With a playful battle cry, Aang goaded his jackaroo into charging Zuko’s. As soon as they were within a few feet of each other, the two animals began boxing, weaving back and forth. Giving out a holler, Aang grabbed onto Zuko’s shoulders as soon as they were close enough and began twisting his body, attempting to throw the other boy off his mount. Zuko caught on quickly and joined in. As the two wrestled, Zuko noticed that the jackaroos had seemingly figured out what was going on and were twisting their bodies to best assist their riders in attempting to unseat each other. 

The two young men passed most of the afternoon in this fashion, laughingly trash talking each other and keeping track of wins. By the end of the afternoon, Aang had succeeded more often at unseating his opponent. As dusk started to settle into the valley, they mounted Appa to head back to Capital City.  
“Thank you for this,” Zuko told Aang, “I don’t believe I realized how much I needed a break.”  
“You have to pay attention,” Aang responded. “You’re no good to anyone if you work yourself into an early grave.”  
“You are quite wise, Avatar” the firebender intoned, bowing formally. Aang snorted and shoved at Zuko’s shoulder, causing him to break character and laugh as well. The flight back was filled with laughter, even Appa sporting a smile.


End file.
